In the words of Ericson et al. (2012), "the effects of concurrent ocean warming and acidification on Antarctic marine benthos warrant investigation as little is known about potential synergies between these climate change stressors." Against this backdrop Ericson et al. "examined the interactive effects of warming and acidification on fertilization and embryonic development of the ecologically important sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri reared from fertilization in elevated temperature (+1.5°C and 3°C) and decreased pH (-0.3 and -0.5 pH units)."

Results of their analysis indicate that "fertilization using gametes from multiple males and females, to represent populations of spawners, was resilient to acidification at ambient temperature (0°C)," and they say that development to the blastula stage was "robust to levels of temperature and pH change predicted over coming decades." The sea urchins studied by the seven scientists thus appear well equipped to successfully deal with IPCC-predicted near-future increases in seawater temperature and acidification; and whatever may happen beyond the current century should prove to be of little problem as well. Working with another sea urchin species (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus), for example, Sunday et al. (2011) found significant levels of phenotypic and genetic variation for larval size in future CO2 conditions; and they say that "a genetic basis for variation in CO2 responses has been found in the three previous studies in which it has been sought," citing the work of Langer et al. (2009), Parker et al. (2011) and Pistevos et al. (2011), which findings support the notion that "genetic variation exists at some level for almost all quantitative characters (Roff, 1997)."